Obamas celebrate White House Thanksgiving with…6 pies
It’s pies, pies, and more pies at the White House Thanksgiving dinner table this year.
First Lady Michelle Obama, an advocate against child obesity, told an interviewer that it was OK for folks to eat pie on Thanksgiving, and as if to set an example, the White House released a list of the SIX pies the Obama family and its friends would be enjoying on Thursday.
Apple, pumpkin, sweet potato, banana cream, cherry, and huckleberry pies were all on the Obama list.
Sweets weren’t the only items on the table, though. Here is the rest of the menu released by the White House:
Turkey
Ham
Michelle Obama, Laura Bush to appear together at 9/11 memorial
First lady Michelle Obama and her predecessor, Laura Bush, will appear together next month in Pennsylvania at a ceremony marking the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Obama and Bush will participate in ceremonies honoring the victims of the attacks, including the 40 passengers and crew killed in the crash of United Flight 93, the National Park Foundation said in a statement on Monday.
“Their show of support honors the lives and memories of these 40 heroes and everyone we lost on September 11th, and serves as a valuable reminder of how important this memorial is to preserve and share their story,” National Park Foundation President Neil Mulholland said.
United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, crashed into a field near Shanksville, in western Pennsylvania. The passengers and crew on the flight are believed to have struggled with the hijackers who had seized the plane.
Three other hijacked planes crashed into New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington, killing nearly 3,000 people.
The anniversary ceremony will take place at a temporary memorial. A permanent Flight 93 national memorial is under construction and is expected to be dedicated on Sept. 11, 2011.
Photo Credits: REUTERS/Saul Loeb (Obama, Bush (R) at the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 2009); REUTERS/White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian/Handout (Bush (L) hosts Obama at White House, Nov. 10, 2008)
Mrs. Obama makes good on a promise
“Well, I am a woman of my word,” first lady Michelle Obama said Sunday, making good on a promise as she spoke at the George Washington University graduation ceremony.
In September, Obama issued a challenge to the GWU class of 2010 – promising that if students performed 100,000 hours of community service during the school year, she would speak at their commencement ceremony.
Students at the university a few blocks from the White House more than met the challenge and Obama kept her word.
The Washington Post said that “by the time the first lady took the stage, the count was up to 163,980 hours of service.”
“I will say that if I had known that you’d complete more than 3,300 hours on the first day of the challenge I’d probably have picked a higher number,” Obama said during the ceremony on the National Mall.
She applauded the students who held up their end of the bargain in many ways — from holding food drives, to visiting with elderly veterans and even running their own medical center in an under-served neighborhood on the other side of town.
Students kept a running tally of their community service hours in letters apprising her of their progress, Obama said.
Michelle Obama almost inaugurates Hillary
Michelle Obama paid a visit to the State Department on Wednesday for a ceremony honoring courageous women from around the world — and almost went overboard in the honorifics for her host, Hillary Clinton.
“This is indeed a pleasure and an honor to be here with all of you, you all look fabulous!” Obama told a roomful of honorees for the International Women of Courage Awards, an annual event.
Turning to Clinton — her husband’s erstwhile rival for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination — Obama kept up the good cheer.
“Let me thank my dear friend Senator Clinton….no, Secretary Clinton,” Obama said. Realizing her mistake, she allowed an exaggerated pause.
“I almost said President Clinton!”
That got a rise out of the group, which cheered and laughed as Clinton smilingly waved away the mistake.
Obama thanked Clinton for her “indispensable” advice on coming to grips with life in Washington, and said she had set the bar high for future First Ladies.
This was a wonderful cultivation to developing creative democratic example for women around the world.
Applause (and hints on clapping) for classical music
The East Room of the White House was turned into a chamber ringing with classical music from celebrities such as violinist Joshua Bell on Wednesday as part of the fourth installment in First Lady Michelle Obama’s ongoing performance series.
President Barack Obama welcomed the hushed crowd, which included a handful of high school musicians and members of Congress, by telling those unsure of when to applaud during classical performances they were not alone.
Former President John F. Kennedy had the same problem, he said, until he enlisted his social secretary to discreetly signal him to clap.
“Fortunately, I have Michelle to tell me when to applaud,” he kidded. “The rest of you are on your own.”
The performance, which also featured Sharon Isbin teasing the themes of “Asturias” by Isaac Albeniz from her classical guitar and pianist Awadagin Pratt sneaking the melody of Hail to the Chief at the end of a piece, capped a day of master classes and workshops hosted by the First Lady for more than 100 student musicians at the White House.
During the evening performance 8-year-old Sujari Britt, from New York, played alongside renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein, eliciting cheers from the audience and a standing ovation from Obama.
Thanx for the valuable information. I wonder Obama gets sleepy with kids performing………. keep posting. Will be visiting back soon.
The First Draft: Iran …and the Olympics
When President Barack Obama was running for president, he was heavily criticized by his rivals — including his current secretary of state, Hillary Clinton — for saying he would be willing to sit down with the leaders of countries like Iran.
Well, today is the day the United States takes part for the first time as a “full participant” in talks between Iran and six world powers to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program.
Obama is not participating but he will likely be closely following results of the one-day talks in Geneva. U.S. officials have said Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns — the head of the American delegation — would not actively seek a one-on-one meeting with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator but would not reject one if the opportunity arose.
Though he’s not going to Geneva, Obama will jet over to Europe this evening for a brief, cameo appearance in Copenhagen, where he hopes his star power and charisma can help woo International Olympic Committee members and convince them to choose Chicago as the venue for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Possibly as part of an effort to avoid criticism that he is skipping work to lobby for the Olympics, Obama will put in a full day at the White House — including Oval Office meetings with Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner as well as a fundraising speech for the Democratic Governors Association — before setting off for Denmark, where he will be on the ground for just about 4 hours.
No incumbent U.S. President has ever addressed an IOC session before. A star-studded advance team including First Lady Michelle Obama, television star Oprah Winfrey and American Olympians have spent the last couple of days trying to win over votes in the hard-fought battle for the 2016 Games.
So what will Obama’s pitch be? Is there some surprise sports-related event that he’ll take part in to convince the IOC to pick Chicago instead of the other three finalists: Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo?
White House garden lead scare a bit overblown
Read the Web much and you might think first lady Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden has turned into a lead-laden nightmare that threatens to poison the first family and any stray child gardener who happens onto the White House grounds. Not so says the first lady’s office. The White House had the soil tested for safety purposes, and the results showed lead at 93 parts per million — higher than typical background levels in urban areas, but low enough not to be considered a health risk. Penn State’s College of Agriculture Sciences, for example, says anything under 150 parts per million is either not contaminated or has very low lead contamination. It does not recommend any action for gardening in soils with those lead levels. “The garden recently underwent extensive soil testing that proved it is completely safe,” said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, the first lady’s press secretary. “A lead level of 93 parts per million is significantly better than the government standard for a garden like this. The White House Kitchen Garden Team is committed to producing fresh, safe and healthy food as a learning opportunity about healthy eating, and they’ll continue to do so.” While the garden is often referred to as being organic, the White House says it his never made that claim. It takes three years to certify an organic garden, with different standards applying. Children from Bancroft Elementary School helped Michelle Obama break ground on the garden back in March and returned in April to plant seedlings. They were back again in mid-June for harvesting. The garden produced lettuce, snap peas, beans, kale, collards and chard, White House associate chef Sam Kass said at the time. It also has produced broccoli, green beans, an eggplant, a cucumber and herbs. No chemicals, fertilizer or herbicides were used on the garden, though lime, greens and compost and crab shell meal were added to the earth. Most food crops do well in slightly acidic soil. Adding lime reduces the soil’s acidity and also lowers the impact of lead. Greensand adds iron and potassium and other elements. Crab meal is rich in calcium, nitrogen and potassium, making it a good organic fertilizer. For more Reuters political news, please click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Top: Obama harvesting garden with school kids in mid-June; Bottom: Obama planting herbs in early April)
Thanks Chicago Garden, I’ve added the missing e.
